Thursday, October 12, 2017

In a bid to give a much needed push for the development of Rs 16,000 crore Navi Mumbai international airport, the project monitoring and implementation committee (PMIC) headed by the state chief secretary Sumit Malik will meet on October 18 to give its nod for the financial bid received from GVK-led Mumbai International Airport (MIAL). PMIC’s approval is necessary to recommend the MIAL’s bid to the state cabinet for its final nod. Thereafter, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), which is the nodal agency for the airport development, will issue a letter of intent (LoI) to MIAL.
The MIAL, who had outsmart its rival GMR, had submitted its bid in February offering 12.6% in revenue share. The project will be carried out on a public-private partnership (PPP) model. CIDCO will incur pre-development work costs. Award of the LoI is considered as an important step in taking the project forward, which is dogged by inordinate delays since its conception in 1997.
CIDCO vice chairman and managing director Bhushan Gagrani told DNA,’’CIDCO has received stage II forest clearance in May. The pre-development work has already begun. PMIC will meet on October 18 and after its recommendation the state cabinet will give its approval for MIAL’s bid. Later, LoI will be issued.’’
A fortnight ago, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the work for the first phase will commence by December 2019, and added that his government would issue a LoI as awarding the contract is a “matter of time” now. He also said the pre-developmental works for the ambitious project will be completed by May next year.
12/10/17 Sanjay Jog/DNA